well pressure climbs after switch turns off.

[tadouh]

I have a 40/60 pressure switch. Ballast tank set to 38. The pressure turns on and off normal, but after the pump turns off, the gauge slowly climbs to 100. I thought maybe a faulty switch and or gauge so I just replaced both of these today. Same issue. Bladder tank is fine. Switch and gauge brand new. I do have a filtration system post bladder tank that consists of 3 different size micron filters, a kdf filter then a kinetico water softener. The pressure does not appear to visually be increasing like increased water flow when i turn on faucet. Pressure is also holding fine. After i drain some water to get it back to 60 70 it does hold there fine.

What could be causing this? Is my water pressure actually climbing or is it being spoofed? Is this safe to run like this?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Reach4]

How about a photo that includes the pressure switch, the input to the pressure tank, gauge, and the incoming pipe from the well. 900x900 pixels max, 200 KB max.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[tadouh]

How about a photo that includes the pressure switch, the input to the pressure tank, gauge, and the incoming pipe from the well. 900x900 pixels max, 200 KB max.

left is coming from pump. Then to switch, T into the line after tank that has gauge and switch ports, if you need a pic of that T l can take another pic. Also on the other side of this wall is where the pump is and i believe a check valve inline if you need that photo also i can take one of that. Thanks for the help. For reference tho, this never did this before on this current setup. Its a new issue i just spotted lately.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Reach4]

That Flexcon 50 gallon FL17 pressure tank is a nice tank.

Your pressure switch does not have significant flow resistance between the pressure tank input and the pressure switch. That is what I had been suspecting, and your picture rules that out. So I don't see a clear answer.

I wonder what that device just to the right of the gauge face is... I was thinking either Schrader valve or the stem of a drain valve with the handle removed.

Bad gauge?... that behavior does not seem like a gauge failure I would imagine. Reading high or low or sticky could be failures I might anticipate. I am suspecting that the pressure really does go to 100, but the path to the gauge is very clogged. What pressure does the gauge say when the pressure switch clicks off? If about 60, that eliminates that idea.

I would put a garden hose thread pressure gauge on the drain valve as an added gauge, but you may be missing a drain valve... unless that is a drain valve between the gauge and the tank.

After i drain some water to get it back to 60 70 it does hold there fine.

How much water is that in gallons?

 

[tadouh]

There is no drain valve installed and I am going to put a 75 psi pressure relief valve in soon, I am also gonna put in an additional pressure gauge down stream to see if it has something to do with the stem or am i really at 100 psi, being that this is an older system i dont want that much pressure on this. On the stem that is a shrader valve here is a clearer picture. Its strange also because it never did this before and just recently started. The metal stem I thought about cleaning out but when i replaced the switch and gauge it was not clogged.

The well pump kicks on at 38 off at 58. Then over the course of 5 to 10 mins it slowly climbs to about 95. How could the pressure rise if the pump is off?

I would say around 10 gallons to get it back to 70 and this is a 50 gallon tank.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Reach4]

The well pump kicks on at 38 off at 58. Then over the course of 5 to 10 mins it slowly climbs to about 95. How could the pressure rise if the pump is off?

I am having trouble with a good explanation of that. Pressure can rise if we imagine a near-blockage between the two galvanized tees; the true pressure would have to be 95, and it takes a long time for the gauge to respond. HOWEVER given such a blockage, how does the gauge see 38 PSI and 58PSI without apparent delay? So I cannot come up with an explanation for both. How much water (gallons) do you release to bring the water pressure from 90 or 100 down to 60? Another way to measure the amount of water is to weigh the change in the bucket before and after. A gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds.

If doing changes, I do suggest adding a drain valve. The piece you want is commonly called a "boiler drain valve". Also buy a garden-hose-thread (GHT) pressure gauge as a comparison. It will screw to the new drain valve.

It is best to avoid galvanized. I don't see that galvanized contributing to your symptom.

Your new picture makes things clearer. What was the point of the Schrader valve atop the galvanized? I guess you could figure out how to connect a pressure gauge there. You could probably even use a tire pressure gauge to measure water pressure for a while. They are not designed for water, but I expect it to not fail quickly.

 

[Fitter30]

When setting the air charge was the system drained down close to 100%?did you use a 0-50lb tire gauge? If not charge is wrong.

 

[tadouh]

When setting the air charge was the system drained down close to 100%?did you use a 0-50lb tire gauge? If not charge is wrong.

yes i did.

 

[Fitter30]

Ex tank can't add pressure only the.pump or heated water. !ost.of the time.with 100 pressure pipes start to hammer when a valve is closed rapidly like a solenoid valve. Clothes washer, ice maker or dish washer. Habe ypu pulled the gauge see if it zeros out and flush the line.

 

[tadouh]

Ex tank can't add pressure only the.pump or heated water. !ost.of the time.with 100 pressure pipes start to hammer when a valve is closed rapidly like a solenoid valve. Clothes washer, ice maker or dish washer. Habe ypu pulled the gauge see if it zeros out and flush the line.

ya i just put a new one in and the switch. no hammering. Pump turns off at 60, slowly creeps up to 95. No where near the hot water heater and the lines are cold.

 

[Valveman]

I also think the line to the pressure switch and gauge is clogged. If you had a 75 PSI relief valve, I think it would be squirting as the tank is at 100 PSI. The gauge is just slow to see the pressure because the line is clogged.

 

[Reach4]

I also think the line to the pressure switch and gauge is clogged. If you had a 75 PSI relief valve, I think it would be squirting as the tank is at 100 PSI. The gauge is just slow to see the pressure because the line is clogged.

The symptoms would seem to say the line to the pressure switch is not clogged -- only the path to (or in) the gauge. But wait.... that cannot be it, because the actual pressure rises well after the pressure switch clicks.... So slow to open pressure switch contacts even tho the click happens at the right pressure? AND that weird thing combined with a slow to respond gauge? I don't see a single failure able to match the symptoms.

 

[Valveman]

Not sure the pressure switch is really clicking at 58 PSI. But if it is and there is no power coming out of the pressure switch above 58 PSI, then the nipple is not clogged. The only other time I saw this was when there was an old buried tank out by the well no one knew about. The old buried tank would equalize into the new tank after the pump shut off. I have also seen this happen when there was a cross connection to another system no one knew about. But if there is no power coming out of the pressure switch, the pump cannot be adding more pressure.

 

[Reach4]

My weird idea was a pressure switch with contacts that weld together, but reliably break apart after about 20 seconds... that is somewhere between highly improbable and impossible. A mistaken description or me misreading the description seem more likely. Your hidden tank idea along with an obstruction works, except that that hidden tank would have to be big because the known tank is a 50 gallon tank.

A test would be to monitor the voltage out of the switch (usually terminals 2 to 3 by convention) to see if the power went away when the click occurred.

We can agree that there should be a drain valve, and any plumbing change should add that.